Synairgen’s inhalable therapy failed in late-stage trial testing in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, wiping out over 85% of the British drugmaker’s stock value on February 21 after the blow to the development of the company’s key product.

Texas A&M University Science Center, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Pulmotect report that the drug PUL-042 appears to work against COVID-19 and other respiratory infections.

A new study on Covid-19 behavior has found that patients affected by the virus might have died due to a buildup of coronavirus directly in the lungs and not because of a secondary infection. 

Shares of Vertex Pharmaceuticals fell in trading after the company announced it will not advance a novel small molecule corrector of the Z-AAT protein into a Phase III study for a rare disease that can lead to complications of the liver and lungs.

Novel coronavirus

Current guidelines for screening U.S. blood donors for symptoms of COVID-19 and for a history of recent infections are effectively protecting the blood supply from contamination with the new coronavirus, researchers say.

Jerusalem-based SpliSense, which focuses on cystic fibrosis and other genetic pulmonary diseases, closed on a $28.5 million Series B financing round. Participating in the round were OrbiMed, Israel Biotech Fund, Integra Holdings and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

To mark World Pulmonary Hypertension Day, patient engagement agency COUCH Health launched a new disease awareness campaign to shine a spotlight on Pulmonary Hypertension and those affected by this often misdiagnosed condition.

AstraZeneca and Amgen’s experimental drug tezepelumab reduced asthma attacks in patients with severe and uncontrolled forms of the respiratory condition in a large study, showing promise for wider use against different triggers.

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine identified a specific and unique kind of immune cell activity in the lungs of Covid-19 patients that is different from the type of immune cell activity found in other respiratory infections.

In a Reuters roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for Covid-19, common cold antibodies yield clues to Covid-19 behavior.